Our 10th anniversary FAMILY celebration at WDW *9/7 Two more movie nights!*

[My2Qtz0205]

Here are some links to some of the threads I included in my planning binder:

Disney Movie Theme Night Ideas:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1707141

MK tips (this was on page 11 of the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board! )
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2162490

Epcot tips
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2165142

DHS tips
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2159097

AK tips
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158273

 

[Leitadala]

And just for fun, what my DH does while I am obsessively Disney planning:

Playing World of Warcraft. I used to play with him every night, but my DIS obsession has made me cut back on my WoW time.

LOL same here! He's asked me "so what are you going to do once our trip is over" (hopeing I would say I'd start playing WoW again) - I of course told him "Plan for our next trip!"

Love the binder! Especially the back cover pic, that is too cute!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Hi, Leita! I did get one night of play in last week. I'm less than half a level from 77! Argh, so close!

Last night I got an email from our rental company that the home we rented from them is no longer represented by their company. Bummer! They offered me two other homes for the same price. The home I chose is 1.5 levels. 4 bedrooms are downstairs, and 1 bedroom is upstairs. All of the bedrooms have their own bathrooms. The kitchen is a nice size, too. I like the looks, and the decorating, of the other available home better, but the kids' bedroom would be upstairs, and DH & I would be downstairs, and I didn't like that. It is 1.5 miles closer to WDW than our other house, so that's nice!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I did some Disney shopping today! Yay! But before I get to that, here is C decorating her poncho. I "hemmed" it with scissors. After I hemmed one sleeve I realize I shouldn't have done that. Now there is a big gaping hole on the side of it.

Can you tell who her favorite princess is?

Now, for the exciting stuff! I got my Disney Visa, and you know I've been cruising Disney Shopping for deals since then. We found a Cinderella castle playset for C for Christmas:

Waay cool!
The other things I got are personalized groom & bride mouse ears for DH & me. Mine will say "10 years" on the back, and his will say "10-16-99". I also got an Ariel bathing suit, cover-up, and towel for C, and a Wall-E towel for Q. I love shopping, even if it is virtual shopping!

I ordered our personalized park maps last week, and we got an email today saying those are en route!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

We got our Disney maps today! Yay!

I have some pics of C plotting her route through the parks, and some video as well. I'll try to upload tonight.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

*shameless bump for myself so I don't lose my report completely*

Update coming on Sunday: our Mickey ears are in, and our first Disney Family Movie Theme Night! (Peter Pan)

 

[Kriddlet]

What a cute castle!

I am also in love with your planning binder and countdown calendar They both look great!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Kriddlet! Thanks for the compliments!

The castle is BIG. I was expecting to hide the box in my closet. Ummm, no can do. It is still in the Disney shipping box, on top of a shelf in the garage! We (yes, I mean WE! ) are going to have so much fun with that toy!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

We got two exciting packages in the mail last week: our personalized maps, and our bride & groom personalized ears!

C loved the maps!

She was plotting out her route. Ariel's Grotto is her #1 destination!

And, my much-coveted Mickey ears:

DH holding them for me

I can't decide when to wear them. Our actual anniversary is our travel day, so should we wear them on the plane? on our first day at the parks? to our anniversary dinner at California Grill?

Up next: our Peter Pan Party!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

As part of our Disney Preparedness Campaign, we are having a family Disney movie theme night every Saturday from yesterday until the Saturday before we leave for Disney!

We invited another family that is also going to Disney sometime soon--either August or October--they haven't decided yet! My friend and I will switch off the hosting duties.

Last night I hosted, and the theme was Peter Pan! It was so much fun! I bought $1 wooden treasure boxes at Michaels, and filled them with necklaces, rings, and gold coins from The Dollar Tree. I made two treasure maps--one for my family, and one for the other family. I placed the siblings' treasure boxes together, on top of a black "x" in the yard. The oldest sibling got to lead the way to the treasure by reading the maps. The dads helped. Once they found their treasure the kids' brought it inside, and painted their treasure boxes!

After they were done painting, it was time to eat! Our menu included Pirate Pizzas (french bread pizzas that got left under the broiler a little too long! ), fruit skewer swords, and Tinkerbell cookies (little sugar cookies I bought from the grocery store bakery, topped with icing and sprinkles).

The decorated table:

After dinner, it was movie time! Q is not a sit-still-and-watch-a-movie kind of guy, but he surprised me! He really enjoyed it, and was laughing and having a great time. My kids had never seen that movie, and I hadn't seen it in a long time, so it was a lot of fun.

Next week my friend is hosting, and she chose Finding Nemo for her theme.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Bump for Sunday's update: Finding Nemo night

 

[My2Qtz0205]

This Saturday it was my friend's turn to host a Disney movie theme night. She chose Finding Nemo.

To start with, the kids painted plaster fish statues:

For dinner, we had fish sticks & mac 'n cheese with goldfish (like Nemo & Marlin in their sea anemones):

After dinner, they had another craft--sea-themed necklaces:

Posing with their completed necklaces (and chewing on salt water taffy ):

For dessert was yellow cake with blue sea icing, and Finding Nemo fruit snacks:

Finally, us watching the movie (the man is my friend's husband):

This Saturday is our Cinderella party. I'm going to cook a fancy meal, and we're going to focus on table manners. We'll see how that goes!

On a planning note, I'm still in a holding pattern until they release park hours and I can make ADR's. The only thing that is kind of stressing me out is that we haven't booked our rental car yet! DH's company gets a discount through Avis, and my mom gets a discount via AARP for Alamo. I'm still trying to find the "best" rate. I'm afraid if we don't make a decision soon, we will be stuck with either a luxury car, or a compact!

I'm also still looking for the perfect park bag. I thought I found one at Target, but then I came home and looked at the reviews, and they pretty much said the bag falls apart within 3 months. I need a medium bag--one bigger than, say, an empty nester or a single person would need, but smaller than a backpack. I bought a soft sided cooler to go under our double stroller that will hold our water, our snacks, and our lunches, so those will not have to go in our park bag. I am overwhelmed with choices from the bag thread. I think I just need to hold the bag in my hands and check out all the compartments for myself.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Ok, I've been talking to myself for a while now. Kind of depressing, but if nothing else I'll keep on updating just to use it as a journal for our scrapbook.

Last Saturday we hosted a Cinderella themed party. I was thinking fancy, so I got out the lace tablecloth, bought some flowers at Harris Teeter (for a steal! $2 for the carnations and $5 for the mixed bouquet!), and roasted a chicken with vegetables. It was dee-lish! Our drink options were sparkling apple cider or sparkling lemonade. For dessert we had cherry pie. I bought blue Chinet for the kids, and the adults got to eat on our good china.

The craft this time was to decorate foam tiaras (or a crown, for Q) with glitter glue and jewels. I had the tiaras, crowns, and glitter glue leftover from Q's 4th birthday party, so all I had to buy was the jewels, and I had a 50% off coupon for Michaels.

As the crowns were drying, I sent the kids outside to do a shoe hunt. I told them Cinderella had lost her shoes, and they needed to find them. I hid 4 pairs of my heels in our front yard, but evidently I didn't make it hard enough. They were back in about 30 seconds.

Pics:

crown-making

the kids' table

close-up of the decorations, courtesy of The Dollar Tree

food porn

We're having another theme party this Saturday, and my friend said it will be either Beauty and the Beast, or Lion King.

Also on Saturday, we get to break out our countdown calendar!

 

[torsie24]

OMG, your parties are awesome!!!

Great job!

I wish I was in the vicinty! Or the country! Lol.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Welcome back, Torsie! I would definitely invite you to my parties if you were in the country!

We booked the rental car! I forgot that little tidbit! My husband's company gets corporate perks, and one of the special offers this month was 40% off through Avis. So we booked an SUV. I had wanted a minivan, but it was something like $140 more a week.

My friend just called and said they have plans for Saturday that she forgot about, so it looks like we will be on our own! I can't not have a party, since that will be the day we put up our countdown calendar, so I think we will have a Little Mermaid party! C will be overjoyed at this, of course!

 

[jaydoe]

Hello...
I just finished reading your whole thread!!! I LOVED it! I love your countdown calendar! I've been trying to come up with an idea for a countdown calendar for me and my DD. I'm going the exact same time you are. We are going the 16-24 of October!! It's me, my DD (8) and I know this is super strange but also my ex-hubby! He's my DD's dad and he and I are actually pretty good friends. Anyway, enough about me..... It's going to be fun to read all your planning and activites, since I will be there the same time you are!! By the way.....I love your dinner parties.....keep them coming!!! I love all the activies you do for them!!! Super cute idea!!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

First off, hi, Jaydoe! Welcome to my PTR! That is so exciting that you're going the same time we are! I love having a plannig buddy!

Now, readers and lurkers alike, HELP ME!

Do PM EMH really bring that much more park traffic in, and about what time does it start to get busier?

Here is my tentative plan:

F 16th: (Arrival Day) Grocery shop, settle in, get to Epcot for Illuminations & Food & Wine Festival
Sa 17th: MK (hours 9a-11p), bfast at CRT?
Su 18th: DHS (hours 9a-7p), MNSSHP (I figure this will be our least favorite park, so I don't mind leaving it early)
M 19th: Epcot WS (11a-9p) After going to MNSSHP the night before, I thought we might enjoy a lazy morning.
Tu 20th: AK (hours 9a-5p), late dinner for DH & I at Cali Grill?
W 21st: Epcot Future World (hours 9a-7p, PM EMH)
Th 22nd: DS's birthday--MK (hours 9a-7p), and yes, it is AM EMH, which suuucks, but at least it will be our 2nd day at MK, and it is his birthday, after all. Dinner at Chef Mickey's. DTD in the evening for birthday shopping.

Of course, the ADR's have not been made yet, hence all of my restaurant choices are ?'s, with the exception of Chef Mickey's, which is non-negotiable. My boy wants to eat with Mickey on his birthday, and he will!

As a reminder, we are off-site, non-park hoppers.

 

[jaydoe]

Your plan looks good. Try not to worry too much about the EMH...at least you will be hitting those parks with EMH during the middle of the week verses the weekend. And hopefully it won't be too busy while we are there!!!

So what is your plan for the ADR's?? Are you going to be calling or doing it on-line?? I'm totally new to this whole ADR thing and I've got to say.....I'm more than a little intimidated!!! This is only my third WDW trip. I live closer to the west coast....so I'm a little more familiar with Disneyland and getting ADR's there is nothing!!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I'm going to try the online reservation system. I can make my first one a week from today! Of all the planning I have done, this is what I am the most stressed about!

I have a back-up plan in place in case we can't get CRT, and I have a few alternates in mind in case we can't get into Cali Grill, but I have NOTHING in mind in case we can't do Chef Mickey's! I guess we could do Crystal Palace, but Q is much more a Mickey kind of boy than a Pooh kind of boy.

I thought about doing Mickey's Backyard Bar-b-que, but it starts so late that we wouldn't get our shopping in at DTD. We can't stay out late that night because we have to be at the airport at an ungodly time the next day.

 

[jaydoe]

Well all that nervousness and intimidation for nothing!! I got on at 4am my time and booked all my ADR's on-line. We are staying at POP so I was able to do the 90+10. We were even able to book CRT breakfast on the 20th!!

I know you'll be getting on tomorrow to book.....so best of luck to you! I hope you get all the ones you want!!

By the way.......have you done anymore of those amazing Disney Movie Parties?? I loved all your creative ideas.

Anyway....good luck getting those ADR's